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We're leaving for a vacation to the Black Hills on Saturday, and I was wondering if anyone here has been there......anyone have any tips for great places to stop.......anyone been to Bear Country USA in particular? I didn't know about this place, but found it by accident when researching the Black Hills for our vacation. It looks so cool! I am very excited about going.....have never seen a bear so 'up close and personal'. The chance to see both bear and wolf cubs up close has me beside myself. Oh my! 
Here's a link to Bear Country USA if anyone wants a look: http://www.bearcountryusa.com/home/map_large.php
We're also visiting Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and an old gold mine with a huge waterfall inside....will also pan for gold at the same place. A stop will be made at Rushmore Cave, the Petrified Forest, and also The Mammoth Site Museum where we will get to tour an active paleontological dig site and see tons of cool fossils. I'm not sure what else we will do....these are the highlights, and I'm sure we'll find other stops along the way! 
Newcastle, OntarioTracy,
It sounds like a wonderful holiday!!!!!!!! Bear Country sounds neat - I haven't heard of it. Although I've seen enough black bears "up close and personal" when we lived up north, to do me for a lifetime, they are magnificent creatures. Being able to view them from your car sounds cool and definitely better than unexpectedly in our back yard LOL!
I love wolves - they are so interesting! I've never been out west, either in Canada or the U.S., but my parents went years ago to Mount Rushmore and were thrilled by everything in that area. Have a wonderful time and take tons of piccies, so we can all see, when you get back. How long are you going for? Have a safe trip and hope you all have a blast.
hugs,
Brenda
Hey Brenda! :hug:
Our vacation is six days.....two of those will be mostly driving there and back. But that leaves us four full days to explore and have fun......just the right amount for one trip I think. Any more than that, and we would be too tired to enjoy ourselves anymore! 
I have a feeling that we will have to return to the Black Hills again. There's just so much to do, and there's no way to do it all in one trip. And I will take loads of pics, so be watching for them later on!
I've been to those places and really liked South Dakota. It's been awhile since I've gone. I went to Bear Country and don't remember it that well. I think you drove around and looked at the bears, and I think the bears were behind a fence or something like that. They didn't come up to your car.
I really recommend the Badlands. We had no idea it would be so cool. It's where the upper and lower prairie meet. We also enjoyed Wall Drug, which we went to the same day as the Badlands. It is cheesy and touristy but fun. You'll see tons, and I mean tons, of fun billboards for it.
We also really liked Custer State Park. We saw a huge herd of bison there, and there was barely anyone there.
I also liked Needles Highway - great drive.
We saw Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse - neat to see but you look at it and then move on the next thing. We went to Deadwood and Lead, both Western towns. One of them had turned into all gambling, and we didn't like that one, but I can't remember which one.
We also went to Devils Tower in Wyoming for the day. It's wild because it's huge and it looks like it just came out of the ground in the middle of nowhere.
When we went, we stayed in Rapid City. Where are you staying? I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions. Have fun!
Ahhh, love the Black Hills area. We visited Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Badlands, and Wind Cave national park. In windcave we signed up to take the 'Bucket tour' which is a small guided tour where you have bucket candles. Great because it was a small group....... Wall Drugs was fun.
The Badlands was a last minute stop.....as we were driving we saw all these mountains below us, so stopped to take a look, plan to go back someday, but we have other places and things to do first.
pandamac
:hug: :hug: Thanks so much Chrissie and Ellen! I've been spending some time looking up all the attractions you've mentioned. Wall Drug looks like fun.......I know the boys will have a ball there! We're also going to have to take the scenic route through Custer State Park on the way to the Mammoth Site (or on the way back)......that will work out perfectly for a day's worth of stuff. I'm going to have to get all of us to sit down and go over our options before we leave......we'll probably have to miss out on something this time around....there's just so much to do! Bear Country is a must though. I've been watching video clips on You Tube this morning, and it looks so awesome. You do indeed drive through with black bears, Arctic wolves, elk, reindeer, big horn sheep, etc right up close to your car! :dance: I'm buying an extra memory card for my camera before we leave........have a feeling I'll need it!! :photo:
Chrissie--We're staying in Rapid City as well. It seemed like the most logical choice! 
